


Live in Living Color

by notreadybutwilling



Series: RT/AH Broadway AU [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Broadway AU, M/M, a shout out to Michael and Lindsay, this is so self indulgent ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 19:19:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1439827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notreadybutwilling/pseuds/notreadybutwilling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Theater is weird as fuck, and most people don’t want to go to sleep with showtunes stuck in their head or pinpricks in their fingers from hemming costumes, but Ryan wouldn’t have it any other way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Live in Living Color

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this bc I’ve always wanted musical theater group AUs and Vavvy was talking about needing Freewood, so here it is! I’m not sure it’s exactly what I wanted, but I can always come back to it (which I intend to do, even if it’s just headcanons for who would star in what)

Whenever people had asked Ryan Haywood what he studied in college, he left out the minor in Theater more often than not. Back then, he’d dreamed of teaching, of guiding people like him that needed a safe, creative space.

Of course, he hadn’t been as good as he’d hoped, but the production of shows was addicting. Before college, he’d never thought that he’d be in a cramped room with too many people at 2 in the morning, hemming period-appropriate costumes and taking breaks to find props, although sometimes that involved making them from scratch. He’d never anticipated that the rush of setting up lights so that they perfectly framed a scene could overpower a severe lack of sleep, or thought about how difficult casting someone in a role could be.

After college, he’d looked for employment at several theaters in the area, but jobs for people with his skill set were few and far between.

So Ryan settled for a Geek Squad job, though he wistfully kept an eye on the community theater productions.

Years after his college foray into theater, an old friend hit him up on Facebook, asking if he was still interested in show production.

Joel Heyman had, by some miracle, broken into an off-Broadway theater and they were in desparate need of behind the scenes people. The owner, Matt Hullum, stressed that the new hires couldn’t be just anyone, and Joel had immediately thought of his college buddy Ryan.

It wasn’t a hard decision. With very little keeping him in his hometown, Ryan packed his life up fairly quickly and flew up to New York.

Like many, he’d never been able to keep from romanticizing the world renown city.

Living in NYC gave him a bit more perspective. He spent most of his first day moving in, and one of his neighbors laughed at him when he started to walk back downstairs without closing and locking his door. Trash piled up in the alleys on some of the less savory streets, and he learned quickly not to look anyone in the eyes. One street smelled entirely of piss.

Of course, the job more than made up for it. Ryan proved to be a bit rusty, but after staying past one for a couple nights, he got back into the swing of things.

He would often go to sleep with a smile on his face and showtunes stuck in his head. It might’ve been weird for some people, but for Ryan, it was perfect.

In the next few years, Ryan was privy to a lot of things. There were torrid love affairs, betrayals, and people who couldn’t remember harmony lines between singing rehearsals, no matter how much they tried. There was emergency choreographing that happened, at the latest, a week before opening night, and there were the times that they actually needed the understudy and prayed that they were prepared. One show even had two leads that got engaged. Ryan was surprised to be invited at all, but Michael gave him the invitation himself.

The best part about off-Broadway was seeing the stars when they were new and the company was taking a chance on them. One that he’d come to know personally was Aaron Tveit; he made sure that Ryan was one of the first to know when he was cast as Fiyero in Wicked.

While putting on Catch Me If You Can, Joel was ridiculously excited about the lead, who was coming all the way from the West End to audition for the lead. He wanted to get onto the Broadway stage, and figured that off-Broadway would be a good place to start.

So Gavin Free came to America and got the part. Joel was ecstatic.

Ryan only saw him onstage in the first weeks of rehearsal, when everyone was preoccupied with getting blocking and choreography down before perfecting it. He was clumsier than most, flailing around and tripping over his feet, and after seeing that, Ryan didn’t get much of a chance to see him again.

He didn’t think much about the lead in respect to Gavin himself, only in general terms. He knew where Gavin would be standing in certain scenes so they could figure out how to frame the scene with light or what the set would need to include.

Gavin himself gravitated mostly to his fellow cast members, with a few exceptions being Meg, who gave him all the help he needed as a choreographer, and Barbara, the head of costuming. Several groups went out with him to get “bevved up” when they had a lighter work weekend, and when they couldn’t drink because of practice the following day, they’d go out to see a show or hole up in someone’s apartment with chips and video games. Apparently, Gavin was awful at holding his liquor as well as every game except Halo, but his enthusiasm and positivity mattered more than his skill levels.

One of the first dress rehearsals had Geoff swearing loudly before they started. The director called out to Ryan. “Do you have a few minutes before the show starts that you could spare? Gavin broke his mic and I don’t need this in my life so just help mic him beforehand, okay?”

So Ryan accompanied Gavin every night before he went onstage. For those few minutes, Ryan focused on making sure that the microphone was properly positioned so that Gavin could speak and sing into it without feedback and still be clearly heard while hiding the wire as much as he could.

He did not focus on Gavin himself. That would be absurd. Why would he notice little, insignificant details about the Brit? There was no reason to.

It didn’t matter that Gavin’s skin was breathtakingly soft, or that his eyes were some of the most beautiful that Ryan had ever seen. He definitely didn’t catalogue the way that Gavin bit his lip or paced around while they were checking the sound. He didn’t see the shake in Gavin’s hands despite his steady voice.

And even if he did notice, he ignored it completely.

Obviously.

Opening night, Gavin’s shaking was definitely worse, and his voice wobbled a bit. Barbara had threatened him with bodily harm if he rubbed at his face or his hair again because she was not doing it all over again, but he made little abortive motions as if he initially forgot her warning.

But when he stepped out onstage, his nervousness melted away as he took on his stage persona. He was no longer Gavin Free - he was Frank, poking fun at the FBI and soaking in his life on the run. His voice was bright and clear and strong and when he danced, there was no hint of the clumsiness that Meg swore was the bane of her existence.

Gavin Free was completely in his element onstage, and it was absolutely gorgeous.

Every night before the show opened, Ryan witnessed Gavin’s pre-show jitters and wondered to himself how this man could ever be nervous when he was so immensely talented and at home onstage.

So the last night, Ryan grabbed Gavin’s shaking hands, telling him just how talented he was and how there was no need to be nervous, not at all.

Gavin chuckled. “Let’s hope the audience thinks so, too.”

"Don’t you think I’m watching the show every night, too?"

Gavin’s head snapped up, and he opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Geoff calling him over. He gave Ryan an apologetic look, rushing off to see the director.

Their last show was hands down the best that they’d done, and most of that was because thanks to Gavin.

After final bows, Gavin rushed backstage to Ryan, wrapping his arms around the other man and whispered in his ear, “Thank you.”


End file.
